Learn to Sail

This 2 days course is a first step for the complete novice with no previous experience. By the end of the course, you will be able to understand the basics of sailing including point of sails, sail trimming, knots, basic rules of the road and sailing safety.

What’s next?

Once you have completed this course, you will be ready to go to the next level which is the certified 4 days International Crew Course.

More details

How to recognize parts of a boat. Sailors use very precise terminology to call everything on a boat. Some of the words use today date back to ancien times, like port (left side of the boat) and starboard (right side of the boat).

Recognizing and understanding the major terms used on a boat will help you understand orders or communicate commands/responses with the crew and the skipper. From boat to boat, skipper to skipper, you may hear different terms for the same thing (“tack” and “go about” are typical examples).

How to rig a sail boat and hoist sails. Before setting sail, you will need to rig your boat, that is preparing your sails rigging before hoisting them. To be more precise, this is called the “running rigging” which are the ropes used to hoist (raise) and adjust the sails (main sail and head sail), and wires used to adjust the mast rigging. You will learn about halyards (ropes used to raise sails), sheets (ropes used to trim sails) and backstay. You will then learn how to set them up and verify their conditions. The main sail and head sail also need to be prepared before hoisting them. We will look at the different ways a main sail is set on the boom/mast and how the head sail can be mounted on the forestay (furlong or hanked on head sail). We will then go over the procedure to hoist the main and head sails.

The different ropes and knots. A good sailors knows his knots. We will be teaching you the basic sail knots like the bowline, sheet bend, clove hitch … how they are done and when to use them. You will learn the different materials used in ropes and how to coil them properly.

The points of sails. Before you can understand how to trim your sails, it is necessary to know the points of sails and find the “apparent wind”, that is the wind direction from the boat’s prospective. The apparent wind is what you feel (and what your sails experience) when the boat is moving.

How to trim sails. Once you understand where the apparent wind is coming from, the next step is to learn how to trim your sails according to your desired direction. You will learn first with one sail, the main sail or the head sail. Then you will learn with both sails together. Part of this course involves a lesson in Physics of Sails where you will learn the forces exercised on the boat (wind and water). We will explain some very basic concepts of aero and hydro dynamism in relation to sailing. This will help you understand the effect of the wind flow on one and two sails and as a result, how to optimize the sails.

How to steer a boat. Steering a boat may sound easy at first … until you realize the rudder, which allows for changing direction, is also a brake when moved off center. We will learn how to properly communicate to the crew a change of direction and as a result what should be done to the sails.

How to tack and gybe. Tacking and Gybing are the 2 main sailing maneuvers. Tacking is used to change direction by turning the bow of the boat into the wind and crossing the wind. Gybing is the same but involves changing direction with the wind crossing from the stern (back) of the boat. We will go over the techniques of both procedures and the roles of each crew member.

The basic rules of the road and basic safety. Finally, sailing is about safety, for yourself, the crew, your boat and other boats. Like with driving a car, we will look at some basic rules of the road for boats which involve knowing what to do if another boat is coming your way. We will go over basic safety precautions while on a boat ranging from wearing the proper attire and safety equipment (life jacket) to potential dangers on a boat (the boom in particular).

This course is taught on our 22 foot Yamaha sail boat.

Palawan Sailing courses start at 9:30am and finish at around 4:00pm.
We have a maximum of 4 students per boat and a minimum of 2. It is recommended that you contact us to book your course.
Call +639 959 655 287 (please remember the time difference with the Philippines : UTC/GMT +8 hours) to inquire or book or use our contact form.

Learn to Sail course price:

€320

You can pay by cash or Paypal. All our prices are fixed.Our course package includes: boat rental and instructive materials, instructor’s fee, warm lunch made from fresh local ingredients. Our package does not include the Eco Tourism Development fee and has to be paid in cash. This ticket costs P200 and is valid for 10 days.Note : All our courses have to be paid in Philipino Pesos. The prices in Euros are informative.